Blog Posts (older)

LONG BEACH, CA. Sensor technology and the need for greater bandwidth is driving military electronics designs, especially in radar and electronic warfare applications, said Ray Alderman, Executive Director of VITA. During the opening of Embedded Tech Trends (ETT) conference on board the Queen Mary, which is permanently anchored in Long Beach, CA, Alderman also added that sensor development will thrive despite the uncertainty of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) budget.

Let’s start with the obvious: static analysis on its own is not a silver bullet. It doesn’t guarantee high code quality, safety, or security in your complex military embedded application. Nor does static analysis ensure your application meets the functional requirements defined for your program. Adding to the industry confusion is a lack of equality [...]

Choosing a programming language is a complicated decision as it can greatly influence the expected reliability of a software system — especially in military applications. Almost any language can be used to develop any application, but a language’s original design benefits may not carry over when moving from one domain to another. The Ada language [...]

Arthur C. Clarke famously made the observation that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” In the radar and signal intelligence world, corps of Ph.Ds are regularly developing mathematically complex algorithms that require significantly more processing power than can be deployed in a contemporary embedded COTS system. These algorithms must sit gathering dust in a drawer until Moore’s Law has driven performance densities sufficiently to enable the needed compute power for that class of algorithm. When any given class of applications is made possible, more demanding algorithms follow in their wake. This way of understanding our market highlights the fact that there are two types of applications that embedded military and aerospace system designers typically confront.

ROME, Italy. Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) International engineers integrated the MEADS Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) with a MEADS battle launcher and manager Pratica di Mare Air Force Base near Rome, Italy. This test series is expected to show that the MEADS TOC can control the MEADS MFCR in coordination with the MEADS Launcher. Demonstrated during the tests were functionalities such as 360-degree target acquisition and track through dedicated flights and other air traffic.

Welcome to the HPEC Vanguard blog. In this blog we will we endeavor to keep you informed about developments in technology, markets, industry standards and trends related to the adoption and use of commercial High Performance Computing (HPC) technology in the rugged embedded military market.

MIAMI. Often a rad-hard supplier this week at the Nuclear Space Radiation Effects Conference (NSREC) in Miami would tell me his product is available off-the-shelf, but cringed at the notion that it would ever be considered COTS or commercial-off-the-shelf.

NEW YORK CITY. Last month on Memorial Day retired Marine Brian Gallagher set a goal to run 100 miles around Ground Zero in New York City in less than 30 hours to raise money for wounded warriors and their families. He did it! Gallagher ran the 100 miles in 29 hours and 15 minutes to raise $100,000 dollars for the charities he supports.